Through the Olive Trees

Through the Olive Trees is the third film in the so-called Koker-trilogy, a loose triptych based around the same village in Northern Iran. In his characteristic manner, Kiarostami blends reality and fiction, prompting us to ponder on the concrete value and effect they have on real people. Can the use of cinematic fiction have a healing effect? We follow a small film crew as they return to the small town of Koker to make a new film.

The village has, a few months previously, been raised to the ground, by an earthquake, and the villagers are still mourning the many hundreds that died in the catastrophe. Hossein, a young mason, has been cast as one of the characters in the film, and plays against a schoolgirl he has fallen in love with. The boy is illiterate, and the girl’s family therefore flatly refuses his marriage proposal. However, the production of the film gives him an opportunity to get closer to her. Will their life ever mirror the film and allow them to wed.

Abbas Kiarostami is one of Iran’s most famous film directors, who passed away earlier this year. Close-Up from 1990, Taste of Cherry and Certified Copy (2010) are some of his most famous films. Kiarostami has a reputation for using child protagonists, and creates highly realistic narratives with a good portion of humour.